State Officials Still Not Tracking Mental Health Spending

(AP) - California officials still haven't taken steps to better track how $2 billion a year in voter-approved funding for mental health is spent, according to a critical report by a state watchdog, despite an audit 19 months ago that raised the same concerns.

The Little Hoover Commission reported Thursday that there is weak financial reporting and limited oversight of revenue from Proposition 63, known as the Millionaire's Tax.

It says that 12 years after voters approved a 1 percent tax on millionaires, the state still can't readily show how it's spent or who is helped by the money.

An Associated Press investigation in 2012 found that tens of millions of dollars generated by the tax went to general wellness programs for people who had not been diagnosed with any mental illness.